Sunday

Nov 12, 2017 at 8:29 PMNov 12, 2017 at 8:54 PM

FALL RIVER — About two weeks before Halloween, Gary Brennan began hearing Christmas carols on the radio.

Not that he’s complaining.

“It’s all part of the package that helps bring you to a festive mood,” Brennan, a resident of Little Compton, Rhode Island, said Sunday afternoon as he left the Walmart in Fall River. Commenting on the Christmas decorations he and other local shoppers have already been seeing in local stores, Brennan said the season has long been commercialized.

“Someone once said that if there was no Christmas, merchants would have to invent it,” Brennan said.

Most people leaving the Walmart on Sunday afternoon said “of course” when asked if they had heard Christmas music on the radio or seen holiday displays in shopping malls and retail stores. It’s come to be expected that Christmas-themed displays will start popping up a week or two, or even longer, before Thanksgiving.

“If I didn’t have little kids, I’d probably be like, ‘Really?’” said Lori Truehart, a Fairhaven resident who has two young children — ages 5 and 6 — at home. She said they’re looking forward to their Elf on the Shelf making its first appearance on Thanksgiving night.

“They’re excited, so we’re excited,” Truehart said.

Heather Gifford, an Acushnet resident, said her husband has a rule about no Christmas decorations in the home before Thanksgiving, but she does not mind seeing or hearing about Christmas now.

“I think if it makes people happy, it’s never too early then,” she said.

However, Brittany Carvalho, of Fall River, said she does not start decorating her home until after Thanksgiving.

“I think it’s too early now,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kelly Parker, also of Fall River, says it’s never too early to start thinking about putting up a Christmas tree.

“I love it,” she said.

Carmen Quinonez, of Fall River, who starts decorating her home in Christmas apparel in November, was ambivalent about Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving.